1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to error event notification and more particularly relates to computer error event notification wherein the message contents and addressees are based at least partly on characteristics of the error event.
2. Description of the Related Art
Modern business enterprises rely heavily on a wide variety of information technology, including both software and hardware, to implement business strategies, to allocate resources, to track the execution of business processes, and to provide an interface for communication with customers, vendors and their own personnel. Business processes executed by a business enterprise may be executed across enterprise system boundaries as well as within enterprise system boundaries.
Even during standard, non-peak operating conditions, the quantity of data that is processed by an enterprise system can be enormous. This data may be received by a business enterprise or produced by a business enterprise for internal use as well as for transmission outside the business enterprise system. With the vast amount of data processed in enterprise systems, detection of problems and delivering problem notification to appropriate parties is a complicated task. As a result, existing and potential problems that could arise during the execution of business processes could go undetected and uncorrected for long periods of time. It would therefore be desirable if a mechanism for detecting error conditions and delivering concise, highly informative messages to individuals with the ability to solve the problem could be established.
FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional computer system 100 that includes a computer 110, an operating system 120 with an error handler 140, one or more processes 130, and an operator station 150. The computer system 100 is typically a stand-alone workstation, a subsystem of a larger computer system, or part of a computer network. A process 130 such as a database program or an accounting program is typically scheduled for execution and monitored by the operating system 120. The operating system 120 often schedules concurrent process execution to facilitate efficient use of system resources.
Although application and system programmers attempt to produce problem-free programs, errors sometimes occur during system operation. Errors in application programs are often handled within the application program, but occasionally an error may be reported to the operating system 120. Errors in system programs may also be reported to the operating system. The operating system 120 generally protects the integrity of concurrent processes 130 by monitoring errors during process execution. A typical operating system 120 incorporates an error handler 140 that is called at the time an error is detected. The error handler 140 may retry a failing operation or may end a failing process.
If the error handler 140 receives an error, it may be desirable for a user, operator, or system administrator to take action to resolve the error. Some computer systems have incorporated automated processes that capture the occurrence of an error event and send a message to the operator station 150. The user or operator may then be responsible to relay the error information to technical support personnel, often resulting in late and incomplete transmission of information to those who can correct the problem.
After technical support personnel are notified, there is usually a need to consult computer documentation to understand a cause of the error. Additionally, a search of available technical support databases is generally conducted to understand if similar problems have been previously reported. This operation can be quite time consuming and typically relies on the ability and knowledge of a technical support person in order to find an appropriate database and properly enter a valid search argument.
What a need exists for a method, apparatus, and system that provide automatic context-sensitive error event notification to appropriate parties by sending a context-sensitive message containing error event-specific information that meets the needs of a recipient. In such a method, apparatus, and system, the message contents and recipients should vary according to the system context, and/or according to the one or more characteristics of the error event. Beneficially, such a method, apparatus, and system would provide accurate, timely notification to appropriate personnel that includes information and/or links to information necessary to quickly recover from an error and also to promptly correct the underlying cause of the error.